2 hearings set for mini-mart plan
LOWER POTTSGROVE »
Aproposal to build a Royal Farms convenience store and gas station on three acres on Armand Hammer Boulevard will be the subject of two hearings this month.
The first is a zoning hearing scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 11, before the zoning hearing board in the township building at 2199 Buchert Road.
According to a legal notice published in The Mercury, the plan calls for subdividing the 13.34-acre lot where A.D. Moyer Lumber Yard is located to allow for the construction.
Just over three acres would be split off to allow for the construction of the store and gas station.
Township Manager Ed Wagner confirmed this project does not mean the A.D. Moyer Lumber Yard or affiliated store there is closing.
Four zoning variances are being requested by a Baltimore-based company called Two Farms Inc.
The company is seeking: • A variance to allow for canopies over the gas pumps to total 5,280 square feet, which exceeds the limit of 3,300 square feet;
• A variance to allow “impervious cover,” which is pavement or a building that prevents rainwater from seeping into the ground, to cover nearly 75 percent of the sub-divided lot. The zoning ordinance allows for 65 percent;
• A variance to allow only 107 feet of frontage along Armand Hammer Boulevard, as opposed to the 145 feet required in the ordinance;
• An additional six months for any variances granted to remain valid.
The second hearing, scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 20, is before the township commissioners and will be held in person at the Gatsby Restaurant in Sunnybook Ballroom,
50 Sunnybrook Road at 6 p.m.
There, the developers are seeking a conditional use permit from the commissioners.
Filling stations are allowed as an accessory use to convenience stores under the “interchange district” zoning where the parcel is located, provided a conditional use permit is granted by the township commissioners, according to the notice.
Both hearings are open to the public.